The fraud isn’t what he’s being punished for.

The ongoing refusal to answer questions under oath is.

He could have agreed to talk anytime and been released shortly.

Rape and child molesting is often, unfortunately, hard to prove in a court of law. This case is the opposite.

You are missing the point. When these crimes are proved in court they get lower sentences. The lower conviction rates are unavoidable. The shorter sentences are not.

I remember once reading two bits of news about people given similar sentences. One for copyright infringement, the other for sexual assault of a teenager.

Money is more valuable than people